The following is excerpted from an 11 June 2013 news article by the International Chamber of Commerce.

Despite recurring pledges to roll back protectionist measures, the G8 and its larger sibling the G20 are failing to demonstrate global leadership on trade openness, according to the ICC Open Markets Index 2013. The biennial report, commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), indicates that only one G20 nation ranks among the world’s top 20 open trade markets.

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The following is excerpted from a 4 June 2013 news release by the World Customs Organization.

More than 100 participants from 48 countries, representing all six WCO regions, attended the WCO International Research Conference on Informality, International Trade and Customs on 3-4 June 2013. The conference was organised by the WCO in partnership with the World Bank and Korea Customs Service.

The following is excerpted from a 29 May 2013 news article by the International Chamber of Commerce.

China has become the latest country to join the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) World Chambers Federation (WCF) International Certificates of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain. China’s membership will strengthen the committee’s work to promote the role of Chambers in the delivery of trade facilitation services, especially to small- and medium-sized businesses.

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The following is excerpted from a 3 June 2013 press release by the World Customs Organization.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has just published its INN Table. The INN Table contains the HS classification of INNs (International Nonproprietary Names) decided by the Harmonized System Committee. It constitutes a reference published by the WCO Secretariat for the purpose of facilitating the classification of these products. 　

This release is available in its entirety at:

The following is excerpted from a 22 May 2013 news article by the International Chamber of Commerce.

ICC has published a collection of standards to help border authorities determine a standardized definition of a diligent trader. With a widely-accepted premise that low-risk traders should receive benefits for their investment in security and compliance, a variety of “trusted trader programmes”, commonly referred to as Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes have been implemented worldwide.

The following is excerpted from a 22 May 2013 speech by DG Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization.

Africans today are more confident and hopeful in the future than ever before. This is also the great transformation that I have seen in the attitude of African negotiators in WTO: confident that trade, if coupled with domestic policies and Aid for Trade can be an engine for growth.

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The following is a 15 May 2013 news item by the World Trade Organization.

Argentina notified the WTO Secretariat, on 15 May 2013, of a request for consultations with the European Union on measures imposed by the EU and/or its member states that affect the importation and marketing of biodiesel as well as measures supporting the biodiesel industry.

This item is available in its entirety at:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news13_e/ds459rfc_15may13_e.htm

The following is a 17 May 2013 news item by the World Trade Organization.

The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 24 May 2013, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially called an “airgram”.

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The following is excerpted from a 6 May 2013 news item by the World Trade Organization.

On 6 May 2013, the WTO Appellate Body issued its reports in the cases “Canada – Certain Measures Affecting the Renewable Energy Generation Sector” (DS412) and “Canada – Measures Relating to the Feed in Tariff Program” (DS426), respectively.

This item is available in its entirety at:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news13_e/412_426abr_e.htm

The following is excerpted from a 3 May 2013 news item by the World Trade Organization.

Cuba notified the WTO Secretariat, on 3 May 2013, of a request for consultations with Australia on the Australian Tobacco Plain Packaging Act of 2011 that regulates the appearance and form of retail packaging used in connection with sales of cigars, cigarettes and other tobacco products.